2018-09-30
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CHOOSING HAPPINESS
The Pursuit of Happiness
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The story so far…
1 ■ All people desire happiness.
■ The good news of Jesus Christ offers people both eternal happiness and the only real present
happiness.
■ People are drawn to Christ when they see true happiness in his followers and are pushed away
when they see us chronically unhappy.
■ God is the sole origin of true happiness, and we should wholeheartedly seek our delight in Him.
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The Secret to Happiness
1 ■ Happiness is not dependent on external conditions
– 10% circumstantial, 50% makeup, and 40% perspective
– Greek philosopher Epictetus: “Men are disturbed not by the things which happen, but by their
opinions about the things.”
■ Stop imagining that all you’d need to be happier is a different circumstance
– Wherever you go, there you are
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How we sabotage our own happiness
1 ■ We’re lousy at predicting what will make us happy
– Indulgence/liberty
– Success
– Relationships
– “This time, it will work”
■ Perspectives that commonly interfere with our happiness
– Worry/anxiety
– Comparison
– Unforgiveness/bitterness
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Training for Happiness
1 ■ Christians lack nothing to live happy lives, but actually experiencing happiness requires sustained
effort
– Happiness is natural but not automatic
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Train your mind
1 ■ “Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise” Phil 4:8
– Keep the birds from nesting
■ Ways to “dig new channels for the rivers of your thoughts”:
– Focus on eternal realities, rather than “the news”
– Do your work with excellence
– Go through the motions
■ The key is “Biblical self-talk”
– “Why are you downcast, O my soul?” Ps 42-43; 103
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Train your attention
■ Live in the now
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2018-09-30
■ Live in the now
– Resist being pulled away from the present moment, to either past regrets or future worries
– The 2 Great Quest’ns: Where are you? Here! What time is it? Now!
■ Ways to practice “the sacrament of the present moment”:
– Take your gratitude and concerns to God (Phil 4:6)
– Enjoy creation
– Forgive (don’t rehearse wrongs)
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Train your pleasures
1 ■ Find innocent things that enrich your life and make you happy
– The Bible is filled with references to celebration, including singing, dancing, eating and drinking
– Natural, social, vocational, physical, intellectual, and humorous happiness
■ In moments of strength, make godly preparation for moments of weakness
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